Can urine cool data centres? Experts assess the Liquid Death advert

An American drinks advert suggests cooling data centres with urine. Experts have weighed in, and the reality is not quite that simple.

To meet global demand for AI computing power, the technology industry is investing billions of dollars in new data centres. As well as concerns about the energy these facilities consume, the American public is increasingly worried about the water use of data centres, which require cooling to operate efficiently.

Data centres and growing water concerns

It is against this backdrop that Liquid Death, Garage Beer and former American football player Jason Kelce released an advert urging people to drink their beverages and “turn them into urine to cool these data centres and save humanity.”

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The advert playfully taps into a growing concern. Yet what experts have to say about the issue is also worth considering.

Urine can cool data centres, but not in the way you might think

TechCrunch asked experts about the proposal put forward in the advert. Michael Obradovitch, vice-president of global data centre accounts at Ecolab, a water, hygiene and infection-prevention specialist, acknowledges that the advert is amusing and highly ironic. However, he also says that “a non-negligible number of alternative water sources are already being used to a similar extent to cool these data centres.”

Recycling urine into cooling water

TechCrunch also spoke to Bruno Pigott, executive director of the WaterReuse Association, which campaigns for water recycling. He explains that urine cannot be used directly to cool data centres. It can, however, be recycled into water that can then be used for cooling. “Urine contains all sorts of things. It contains salts, urea, bacteria and organic matter of all kinds that can leave mineral deposits. If you simply put it into a cooling tower or something else, you would have to clean it constantly,” he explains.